The weather at onsen is often cold, a place we associate with winter snow, the air steams contrasting to the white boiling water at source. Today, it was spring, a rare dip in the temperature, the green forest and hillside surrounds us. The weather during the day, thirty degrees centigrade, and by night it was in the mid-teens. At Gorakadan they have two outdoor hot springs surrounded by garden. The maples trees hang above us, the rain splatters down and runs off the roof but the spirit of the water’s warmth never feels anything but perfect cascading over the rocks.